Assistant Professor Peter Melhus and Associate Professor Bruce Paton describe the “paradox of collaboration” in a new paper to be published in the Journal of Environmental Sustainability. 

The study draws on their nine year participation in sustainable Silicon Valley. It explores the apparent paradox that multi-stakeholder collaborations addressing environmental problems are very successful at building cooperation among stakeholders. These include businesses, governments, and activist groups; however, those collabs often fail to achieve their stated objectives.